More than 1 in 30 adults in Washington, D.C., are HIV-infected—a prevalence higher than that reported in Ethiopia, Nigeria, or Rwanda. Certain U.S. subpopulations are particularly hard hit. In New York City, 1 in 40 blacks, 1 in 10 men who have sex with men, and 1 in 8 injection-drug users are HIV-infected, as are 1 in 16 black men in Washington, D.C. In several U.S. urban areas, the HIV prevalence among men who have sex with men is as high as 30%—as compared with a general-population prevalence of 7.8% in Kenya and 16.9% in South Africa.

This is not good. I hope the word is getting out there. This can not continue.

The recent Harold Ford Jr. debacle has heated up some discussions on how we should address politicians, as well as, how we should fight for our rights.

If your not familiar with the issue, Ford spoke at a Stonewall Democrats event in NYC. However, he was attacked by several gays, screaming and shouting during his speech. The aftermath of that event, caused several LGBT leaders, activists and bloggers to condemn the protesters' actions.

Then on the flipslide, several LGBT peeps felt this is the best way to deal with lying politicians and the slow process on our issues.

But what is the best method? Is there a 'best method'?

I struggle with this because I'm all for protesting. I think it's a great way to convey our frustrations. However, when it's destructive, the point is muddled.

For example, there's already a backlash from the Ford drama. The mainstream media folks are labeling the protesters as "rude", "vile", "tacky". And this issue has trickled down to other minority groups who are seeing this as an unnecessary attack on Ford.

Still, this method could sent a message that 'we don't take no jive'. This could be the wake up call to any politician who wants our support.

For me, I think the Ford drama hurt more than helped. But on the other hand, folks now know you can't play with our emotions.

The Governor's domestic violence scandal has led him to this... He is no longer seeking reelection.

Gov. David A. Paterson, his administration caught up in a whirlwind of allegations about its intervention in a domestic violence episode involving a top aide, is set to announce that he is suspending his election campaign and will not run in November, according to a person told about the plans.

Mr. Paterson is expected to make the announcement Friday afternoon. It would end his campaign less than a week after it officially began, with an angry speech at Hofstra University on Long Island. There, on the campus where he had gone to law school, the man who has been the state’s top official for 23 months — and had been a state senator for more than 20 years before that — presented himself as something of an outsider tiliting against special interests in Albany.

By Friday, some newspaper editorial writers were demanding something more than an end to his campaign: they were calling for his resignation. That only added to the increasing sense that it would be nearly impossible for him to run the state and the campaign with the abuse case in the background.

This is a sad ending to a man who stood his ground and stuck to his beliefs.source

The Bay Area's federal judges are again proposing to allow cameras in their courtrooms, a plan that could lead to telecasting of closing arguments in a suit challenging California's ban on same-sex marriage.

If his court approves the new rule next week, Walker could allow camera coverage of the arguments along the lines of his previous order, subject to approval by Alex Kozinski, chief judge of the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

Telecasting lawyers' arguments, without witness testimony, might pass muster with the Supreme Court, which hasn't objected to televised hearings of arguments before the Ninth Circuit.

Prop. 8's sponsors, who opposed telecasting the trial, won't say whether they would challenge the airing of final arguments.

This would be good to see and hear these arguments. I hope this new plan works out.

A new CNN poll shows that soldiers who could careless about us, want DADT gone.

Out of the 69% that wants to repeal DADT, 48% of them believes homosexuality is morally wrong.

But what CNN's results do illustrate, in a nice side-by-side comparison, is that letting gays serve openly in the military is popular with some people who think homosexuality itself is wrong.

CNN asked respondents whether they "personally think that homosexual relationships between consenting adults is morally wrong, or not a moral issue"; 48% said it's wrong, and 50% said it's not a moral issue.

Since 69% of those respondents support letting gays serve openly, that means some of those people think both that homosexuality is wrong and that gays should be able to serve openly.

If you break it down, John is getting fired up over something that hasn’t happened! This is an idea, a prediction. It’s like he's looking for a fight. And he’s not alone, there are others who are serving us hot water and calling it soup.

We should not get overly caught up about many of these matters. For the first time in history, we are getting many initiatives in place; we are seeing movement in issues like DADT, ENDA and marriage that we haven’t seen before. So why are we doubting everything? Why are these bloggers painting the future in despair?

We can’t continue living in fear from predictions or fever dreams. Remember, one of the key pieces in the Civil Rights movement was hope. They stuck with it and kept moving. They had no time for silly rants or overdramatic fallouts. They actually, kept hope alive and we have to do the same thing. We need to believe and trust in the system. It’s going to take time, that’s just the honest truth. We have to remain strong and look for the silver lining.But if we fall victim to these negative tones, half-truths and teabaggery, we will lose this battle.

Close to half of Arizona Legislature demands to see President Barack Obama's birth certificate before he runs for re-election.

A state House committee on Tuesday approved the measure sponsored by 40 of the state's 90 legislators. It would require presidential candidates who want to appear on the ballot in Arizona to submit documents proving they meet the requirements to be president.

All 40 co-sponsors are Republicans, comprising 75 percent of the GOP caucus. Two of them have since resigned to run for Congress.

These folks need to fired and forced to work at the boarder check-in point.

Okay, I know folks don't like my ex-husband, but this is ridic. Please watch HF at the Stonewall Dems event at NYC.

My personal opinion? This is was not cute and this may work for him. Knowing spin doctors and politics, this could be his golden ticket. Especially, when Sen. Diaz is playing the gay abandonment card. This could spin into Harold's hands.

Now, I not for the man, but I can see this being a negative tag at us.

Hola Chicos, Pinche Taco here with the latest blatherings de nada de los Ninos de Hollywood!

So you will believe un hombre can fly! Te Juro. The talented David Stephen Goyer, the man who made sure Nolan stuck to the legend of El Dark Knight, has been hired to write the next chapter. Here is what El Taco can tell all you ninos....

Thomas Tull, the head of Legendary, got tired of all the discussion and decided chingate, let's do it. So he went to Goyer and Goyer had an idea that actually takes the movies back to the John Byrne incarnation. Modern. Believable. FUN! So Tull got Goyer hired.

The film will not be called Superman and will be called THE MAN OF STEEL.

Brandon Routh will not star in the film.

Nic Cage will NOT star in the fllm (lol)

Bryan Singer is not expected to direct.

Fascinating, right?

David is a pretty good writer, he co-penned Batman Begins and the Dark Knight (I'll forgive him for The Unborn) so this should be good. And if they follow Byrne's storyline it should challenge the fans.

"It's all been positive. But I almost wish I had a negative, because we don't live in a perfect world and homophobia hasn't disappeared. I don't want to be this fairytale story, because that's not the reality of the world, but I'm not going to make things up to make this journey I'm on seem more real. There have been a couple of wolf whistles when I've been warming up for the Blues, but I can take that, just like I'd expect jeers if I dropped the ball. Part of a sportsman's job is taking banter from the crowd. And we joke about it all the time in the team. The guys see someone gorgeous reading the news and say 'She's really smart, what do you reckon, Alf?' That's not homophobia. We're so politically correct in this society that we see it where it isn't."

The 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals in Philadelphia had thrown out the FCC's $550,000 fine against CBS as arbitrary, only to have the U.S. Supreme Court kick it back down for review. The Supreme Court pointed to its ruling in a Fox Television-led challenge, when it said the FCC could threaten fines over the use of a single curse word on live TV.

The FCC argued Tuesday that CBS was duly warned that its 2004 halftime performers might add some shock value to the act. Jackson's choreographer had promised as much, FCC lawyer Jacob Lewis said. During the act, singer Justin Timberlake ripped off Jackson's bustier, exposing her breast for nine-sixteenths of a second.

"There were considerable alarm bells about deviating from the script," Lewis told the 3rd Circuit panel. "CBS had a duty to investigate."

Tuesday, February 23, 2010

So, there are a few folks up in arms about how Obama left out LGBT provisions in Health Care Bill.

But if these folks actually read closely, they will learn something different.

I will try to provide some perspective.

The bill is NOT a bill. This is a proposal, so this is not set in stone.

The proposal calls for $11 billion for ''the operation, expansion, and construction of community health centers", this can cover AIDS/HIV education, testing and follow-up.

Rep. Tammy Baldwin has been working of the LGBT provisions. She is still working with Obama on those provisions. So they are not abandon as some may think.

This proposal is not solely Obama's, this mostly comes from the Senate earlier bill proposal.

''The President's proposal assumes the base Senate bill,'' said Shin Inouye, a spokesman for the White House with LGBT media. But Inouye pointed out that the president's proposal does include ''data collection.''

"Data Collection" is still included. This means that the collection of data about ''sexual orientation'' and ''gender identity'' could help match health issues and the need for programs for the people involved.

We are not abandoned, in fact, they are still working on several issues besetting the future bill. But what really bothers me is how some folks jumped the gun.

On Twitter, gay folks were passing tweets like, "Obama cheats us again on HCR". When I asked them to elaborate, their responses were, that he betrayed us or I got it from Pam's blog.

So, I read Autumn Sandeen's post: Our "Fierce Advocate" Not Being Fierce Again. She only included a part of the info and nothing about this being a draft, what's actually in the proposal or how this is a work in progress.

I'm really seeing the malarkey here. If you're going to talk about it, then talk about it. Please don't use Fox News-styled tactics to prove a point that nonexistent. There's no reason to blame Obama or to stir up salt and water and call it soup.

And more thing, we should look deeper into any matter involving LGBT right. Seeing how folks just passed this tweet on, without fully reading it or understanding it is unacceptable. We can not let our frustrations lead us into ignorance. We have to challenge each other as much as we challenge the Obama Administration.

I'm not trying to be preachy, but I'm tired of some of our LGBT fam falling for this panic mode of thinking. Hell, we are acting like teabaggers! Let's not go there.

US Army leaders oppose suspensions of gay firings. Some believe that this method will jeopardize the entire process to repeal the policy.

Both Secretary of the Army John McHugh and Army Chief of Staff George W. Casey, Jr., testified on Tuesday that they oppose such a moratorium during the nearly year-long planned repeal implementation review.

Neither McHugh nor Casey even offered the full-throated support to a repeal of the policy that was given to senators earlier this month by Secretary of Defense Robert Gates and Adm. Mike Mullen, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

The testimony came as part of Senate Armed Services Committee hearings on the Army's budget request and, specifically, in response to a question by Committee Chairman Carl Levin (D-Mich.) and follow-up questioning by Sen. Joseph Lieberman (I-Conn.), who announced on Monday that he would be taking the lead on the Senate bill to repeal the policy.

Although McHugh said he ''can't see that we would object'' to a moratorium ''if it were the will of the Congress,'' he also said, when pressed further, that his personal ''preference would be that we would not enact a moratorium.''

Speaking more strongly against a moratorium, Casey told the senators that a moratorium ''would complicate the whole process'' of repeal implementation. ''Anything that complicates it more, I would oppose that,'' he reiterated.

I want to believe they are right in this issue. I will trust their judgment and the process.

Before I met my partner, I had a not-so great time in the dating field. Most of the guys I would meet were either too silly, full of mess or their self-esteem was all over the place.

Basically, I was Carrie Bradshaw, dealing with guys from the South all the way to Upstate New York. So, I will share some of my odd experiences with y'all. Please bare with me:

My first bf was young, 7 years younger than me in fact. I was so into him because he was the 1st bf. We started out pretty good. I let him lead because he had more experience. But after 3 heavy make out sessions and 2 dates, it was over. We only dated for 2 and 1/2 months. He said it was not my fault, he just wasn't sure where we were going. Plus he was going to grad school at Harvard and wanted to focus on his degree. However, the truth was he wanted to be free. I can respect that, I just wished he was up front about it.

My 2nd bf was a pure rebound relationship. He did not meet all of my requirements, in fact, he was an example of Affirmative Action Dating. Meaning, a guy who only meets half or less of your major requirements, but you allow them a chance to prove themselves. Well, he failed in that quest. We lasted for 7 months. He was going nowhere career wise and I didn't love him at all. However, he was good in bed.

I was seeing this guy who was a great kisser, but still lived with his ex. His ex wanted to have a threesome, but I declined. But he didn't take no for answer, his ex offered to pay me. I said no, however the great kisser guy wanted me to do it... so he could get the money.

Another guy I was seeing thought that if we slept together, I wouldn't be special to him. However, if I blew him without reciprocation, he would still see me regularly. I never blew him and it was over.

“The Governor went out on a limb for the gay community in his efforts to support marriage equality and to bring that bill to the Senate floor, even though he knew it did not have sufficient votes to pass and that thousandsof people in New York State did not want it and will not support him for election because of that issue. Where is the gay community now that the Governor needs them?”

We have plenty of space downtown and the entertainment peeps already live here.

The hotels are easier to access.

And for personal reasons, it would waaaay easy for me. I wouldn't have to pay for a hotel and I wouldn't have to drive 2 hours to get there; I live less than 3 miles away from the Convention Center. So it's a win for everybody!

I'll keep y'all posted, but I hope and pray to Diana Ross's wardrobe that we get Comic Con!

Great Hera! Joe Lieberman will be the chief sponsor of the DADT repeal?

Really? Well, according to NY Daily News:

In an exclusive interview with the Daily News, Lieberman told me that his commitment to repealing DADT is twofold. First, allowing gays to serve openly fulfills the bedrock American promise of providing citizens with "an equal opportunity to do whatever job their talents and sense of purpose and motivations lead them to want to do - including military service." Second, and no less important for a lawmaker whose commitment to national security the Pentagon can't doubt, is that "When you artificially limit the pool of people who can enlist then you are diminishing military effectiveness."

"My own experience as a member of the Armed Services Committee, visiting our troops on bases here in this country and abroad, particularly in war zones, the most remarkable quality you'll find is unit cohesion," he told me. "What matters is not the gender of the other person in your unit or the color or the religion or in this case the sexual orientation. It's whether that person is a good soldier you can depend on. And that's why I think it's going to work."

This is very interesting to hear! But to be really honest with y'all, I don't trust Joe. His actions has not been great to say the least, but who knows.

The CPAC was very interesting this year with the presence of GOProud and minor teabagger action. But the telling part of the conference was the high number of young participants and their views about Gay marriage and abortion.

See here:Their core values are not all about opposite marriage and abortion, but the reducing of government in our daily lives seems to be main priority.

And here...

Stopping Gay marriage is very low on the list. Hell, protecting gun rights rank higher than our ability to wed.

This is very telling about the future of the GOP. Maybe, just maybe this is the direction they will take? I'm not sure, but these results are helpful in understanding the important issues to come.

Sunday, February 21, 2010

Kentucky's Senate Education Committee just gave their seal of approval for the Bible to be taught in public schools.

For some reason, this Bible class will be treated as social studies course. I wonder if they will teach some the "interesting" beliefs in the scriptures.

Now, I don't know why they did this. I hope they are not thinking the Bible will change lives... Oh, well, someone does:

"We took the Bible out of our schools, but we put nothing back," Carroll said. "When we took the Bible out of the schools, we also unfortunately took out that portion of the Bible which relates to life skills, which relates to value systems. And so our students these days do not have the full opportunity, in my judgment, to be taught those life skills and value judgments that keep them out of our penitentiaries ..."

That's from Sen. Julian Carroll (above), who believes this is the best thing for the kids. No sweetie, the best things are being honest and truthful about the world, without the bullsh** sweetener. That's the moral thing to do.

"My thoughts are this: The military is there for one purpose and one purpose only, and that is to protect and defend the United States of America. We have a volunteer army. They [gays] can un-volunteer too. … Political correctness is reigning in the military right now. Some people say: [Do] whatever the generals say [on DADT]. I'm not too sure that we haven't so indoctrinated the officer corps in this country that they can actually see straight to make the right decision."

Saturday, February 20, 2010

“If you’re sitting at home in your undershirt, watching TV, worried about terrorism, and at the same time objecting to the person who’s putting their life on the line so that your family will be protected, then you’re the worst kind of fucking asshole there is.”

John Mellencamp is a favorite to replace Evan Bayh as Senator of Indiana.

Over 3,500 people (and counting) have joined the "Draft John Mellencamp for Senate" Facebook group, and some prominent political analysts believe that a Mellencamp campaign could result in him replacing Indiana Democratic Senator Evan Bayh, who recently announced he will not seek re-election.

Mellencamp is a "voice for working people and a champion of farmers," stated Brent Budowsky of 'The Hill,' touting the rocker's populist credibility. "[He's] one of the great advocates of small-town America," he added.The Indiana-born Mellencamp has already engaged in political fisticuffs with the Republican political machine, which may prove his toughness to doubters.

His representatives demanded that John McCain refrain from using Mellancamp's hits 'Our Country' and 'Pink Houses' during the 2008 Presidential campaign.Although a lack of practical experience is usually a challenge in electoral contests, recent changes in the political landscape could work in Mellencamp's favor.